John McEwen comments on Cornelis van der Geest
VAN DYCK was born in Antwerp, the seventh son of Franchois van Dycka cloth and silk merchant. His grandfather had been a painter and his mother’s family included artists: no surprise the boy’s prodigious talent saw him apprenticed at 10 to a leading painter in the city, Hendrick van Balen. Van Dyck’s apprenticeship coincided with a revival in the fortunes of Antwerp.
A truce had concluded the war between Spain, whose empire included the southern Netherlands, and the now independent republic of the Protestant northern Netherlands Albert of Austria and Isabella, daughter of Philip II of Spain, had been made regents by the King and proved their political ability with the long-negotiated peace.
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